Stony Brook cancels classes, evacuates Southampton students

Stony Brook University evacuated its roughly 20 residential students from its Southampton campus dormitories to its main campus, where the school has been piping in power from a generator.

The school said its main campus, including the hospital and the Long Island State Veterans Home, lost power for only37 minutes during the storm.

“There was no loss of services to patients,” spokeswoman Lauren Sheprow said regarding the hospital. “The back-up generator kicks in for the hospital services.”

The main campus, which is powered by the school’s own co-generation plant, lost power briefly due to the malfunction of a piece of high-voltage equipment.

But even as Stony Brook’s main campus restored power within minutes, its Southampton campus, which relies on power from the Long Island Power Authority, lost electricity during the storm.

The school said even though “residential students from the Stony Brook Southampton campus were evacuated to the main campus in Stony Brook,” that affected only a small portion of the school’s overall population.

“Power has been fully restored to the Southampton campus,” Sheprow said. “The goal is to move the students before the weekend ends.”

There are only 20 students, primarily studying marine sciences, in Southampton dormitories, where power has since been restored.

Stony Brook University’s Southampton campus is being used to house New York state troopers and emergency utility workers.

Stony Brook University classes were cancelled at all locations throughout the week following Hurricane Sandy. Classes are expected to resume according to schedule on Monday for the main campus and the School of Medicine.

The school said “a decision to restore classes at the Southampton and Manhattan campuses will be made on a day by day basis.”

Stony Brook University Medical Center provided the full range of hospital services during the storm, except elective procedures and routine clinic visits.

All university sports competitions scheduled for the weekend will take place as planned, including the home football game on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Virginia Military Institute and the American East Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament, scheduled for noon on Saturday.

In order to check on the current status and updates on Stony Brook Universeity classes and facilities, call 631-632-5378.